Bahrain International Circuit
| 250px | |
| Bahrain International Circuit | |
|---|---|
| Location: |  Manama, Bahrain
|
| Events: | Drag Racing; Formula One; GP2; Formula Three; Bahrain GT |
| Length km: | 5.42 |
| Length mi: | 3.37 |
| Turns: | 15 |
| Record time: | 1'30.252 |
| Record driver: | Michael Schumacher |
| Record team: | Ferrari |
| Record year: | 2004 |
The Bahrain International Circuit (Arabic: حلبة البحرين الدولية) is a venue used for drag racing, GP2, and an annual Formula One Grand Prix. For the first time in 2006, there will also be a V8 Supercar race.
The construction of the Bahrain circuit was a national objective for Bahrain, initiated by the Crown Prince, Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The Crown Prince is the Honorary President of the Bahrain Motor Federation.
Race organizers were worried that the circuit wouldn't be complete in time, and asked for the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix to take place in 2005 instead. However, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone refused this request. In the end, the circuit was not quite fully complete, but was good enough for the grand prix to go ahead.
The circuit posed a unique problem. Positioned in the middle of a desert, there were worries that sand would blow onto the circuit and disrupt the race. However, organizers were able to keep the sand off the track by spraying an adhesive on the sand around the track.
The circuit was designed by German architect Hermann Tilke, the same architect who designed the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. The circuit cost approximately US $150 million to construct.
Facilities
There are six different tracks.
- Grand Prix track (pictured above)
- Inner track (the middle section of the track - turns 5 to 12 of the main circuit with a complex of corners joining turns 5 and 12)
- Outer track (the entire track, but bypassing turns 5 to 12)
- Paddock track (turns 4 through to 9 are removed)
- Drag Strip (ran on the straight over a quarter of a mile with shutdown area)
- Oval track
External links
- A lap of Bahrain Video
- Bahrain International Circuit
- Bahrain International Circuit History and Statistics
- Ciro Pabón's Racetracks 3D views and virtual laps of all F1 circuits, including this one, via Google Earth